Bipolar Disorder

For a quantitative understanding of the physics of the universe - from the solar system through the milky way to clusters of galaxies all the way to cosmology - these edited lecture notes are perhaps among the most concise and also among the most critical ones: Astrophysics has not yet stood the redundancy test of laboratory physics, hence should be aware of early interpretations. Special chapters are devoted to magnetic and radiation processes, supernovae, disks, black-hole candidacy, bipolar flows, cosmic rays, gamma-ray bursts, image distortions, and special sources. At the same time, planet earth is viewed as the arena for life, with plants and animals having evolved to homo sapiens during cosmic time. -- This text is unique in covering the basic qualitative and quantitative tools, formulae as well as numbers, needed for the precise interpretation of frontline phenomena. The author compares mainstream interpretations with new and even controversial ones he wishes to emphasize. The second edition includes numerous updates throughout the book and, in addition, it contains a list of alternative explanations to astrophysical findings that can be seen as a serious testing ground for young scientists.

Jets are ubiquitous in the Universe, but ill-understood. Conservative books base their interpretations on focused stellar winds, ejected "bullets", black-hole central engines, and in-situ upgrading of electron energies via shocks. This volume, however, attempts a uniform interpretation of the bipolar-flow family, involving extremely relativistic pair plasma as the jet substance, and rotating magnets (possibly burning disks) as the central engines. Among the discussed sources are SS 433, YSO jets, planetary nebulae, our galactic center, and the class of extragalactic QSOs, both radio-loud and radio-quiet.